Hidden Stems

지장간 · 支藏干

The one to three stems concealed inside every earthly branch.

A branch is not a single value. Each one contains a main hidden stem and often a middle and residual one, which is where a great deal of a chart's real content sits.

Hidden stems act more weakly than stems standing openly in a pillar, and the residual one barely acts at all. Weighting them properly is the difference between an element census that feels accurate and one that does not.